Overview

Do you want to boost your career prospects by studying for a Master's degree alongside your current job?

On this MSc Engineering and Learning at Work Master's course, you'll enhance your key engineering and management competencies, and gain the the knowledge, skills and confidence required to solve complex engineering issues in the workplace.

And whether you're already working in a civilian engineering environment – or about to make the move from a military engineering position – you'll develop the leadership skills needed to take on senior or managerial engineering roles in the industry.

Because the course is work-based, you need to already be in a full-time, part-time or voluntary role. If you don't have an undergraduate degree, you could still do this postgraduate course if you have several years experience in a responsible position (such as a military role) or you have high-level skills through experience that isn't reflected in your qualifications.

You can tailor the course to match your professional and personal aspirations and your employer's objectives. The way you learn is flexible, so you can study wherever is most convenient for you and schedule your studies around your existing commitments.

You'll get to put the skills you learn to work instantly in your job, contributing to the success of your company. When you complete the course, you'll improve your career prospects and have the skills and knowledge to perform more effectively in your job.

While this degree is not accredited, students who successfully complete the course could potentially gain Chartered Engineer (CEng) status through the following professional engineering institutions:

Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)

Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)

Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST)

Royal Aeronautical Society (RAes)

Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management (IHEEM)

Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers (IGEM)

The Society of Operations Engineers (SOE)

What you'll experience

On this course, you'll:

Choose units and study topics that match your personal and professional goals, as well as your employer's objectives

Develop your ability to analyse problems, research and propose solutions, and make sound professional judgements when faced with the organisational, financial and management aspects of a business

Take part in work-based learning (WBL) projects that form part of your daily workload, which ensure that the knowledge you develop is relevant to your employer's business

Get an optional 1-day induction in Portsmouth at the start of the course and have the opportunity to study on campus, if it suits you

Develop your learning plan with the University and your employer, so you can make an effective contribution to your workplace as you learn

Have full access to our student support services and community including study support, sports and recreation facilities, and the Students' Union

Tap in to our Library's electronic resources, which you can access from anywhere with a Web connection

Choose a Workplace Partner to support your learning – someone at work who can offer advice, guidance, and moral support

Have support from an academic tutor specialising in your area of study and a University learning manager who oversees your programme

Use online tutorials and lectures to help you with study skills, including your analytical and writing skills

Course duration

This course isn't tied to the University's timetables or academic calendar. So you can work at your own pace, in your own time and in your own location. You must complete the course within 5 years.

You can complete the course more quickly if you have relevant work experience, training or qualifications that you can put towards your degree. This is known as Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). You can use RPL for up to 120 of the 180 credits you need to accumulate to get your Master's degree.

We recommend you study units worth 60 credits a year. Typically, a student who enters with the maximum RPL of 120 credits and has only 60 credits to study would take 12-18 months to complete the course.

Careers and opportunities

When you finish the course, you'll have the skills and knowledge to advance your career with your current employer and boost your long-term career prospects.

After the course, you can get help, advice and support for up to 5 years from our Careers and Employability service as you advance in your career.

Entry requirements​

Entry Requirements

Qualifications or experience

A degree or equivalent. Other qualifications such as HNDs and Foundation degrees, supported by several years of relevant post-qualification experience in responsible posts, may also be acceptable. Applicants are usually working at a professional level. If you do not hold a level 6 qualification you may be required to present evidence of your ability to study at level 6.

English language requirements

English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 6.0 with no component score below 5.5.

​Course costs

Tuition fees

Please contact the Learning at Work department for the latest fee schedules.

You’ll study up to 6 units a year. You may have to read several recommended books or textbooks for each unit.

You can borrow most of these from the Library. If you buy these, they may cost up to £60 each.

We recommend that you budget £75 a year for photocopying, memory sticks, DVDs and CDs, printing charges, binding and specialist printing.

If your final year includes a major project, there could be cost for transport or accommodation related to your research activities. The amount will depend on the project you choose.

What you'll study on this MSc Engineering and Management (Learning at Work) degree course

At the start of the course, you'll put together a Learning Contract with the University and your employer that outlines what you'll study.

To get a Master's degree, you need to accumulate a total of 180 credits. You can get these credits in 3 ways:

1. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

You can get credit for the qualifications and experience you already have such as a PgCert or PgDip in a business, management or leadership subject. This can also include in-service training courses and qualifications as well as learning from on-the-job experience.

This is called Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). You can use RPL for up to 120 (two thirds) of the 180 credits you need to get your degree.

Contact us to find out if you can receive RPL credit for your current qualifications or work experience.

2. Work-based learning (WBL) projects

Most of your learning will come from work-based learning (WBL) projects. These are projects that are valuable to your employer, which you complete at work.

Past projects titles include Evaluate and Contrast the Differing Leadership Behaviours and Cultures of Military and Civilian Management, The Resettlement Process in the Royal Navy, and the Development of Student Support Services Strategies.

These projects won't involve activities you do in your day-to-day job as they need to involve new learning for you. You'll do most of the work for these projects in your normal working hours.

3. Taught units

You can study campus-based or distance learning units to expand your knowledge and understanding or to develop new skills in a more structured way.

Units that previous students have studied include Strategic Organisational Excellence, Leadership Skills and Management, Resourcing, Learning, and Talent.

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional units may not run every year. If a unit doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative unit.

Learning support

As well as support by faculty teaching staff and your personal tutor, you can use the University’s Academic Skills Unit (ASK).

ASK provides one-to-one support in areas such as:

academic writing

note taking

time management

critical thinking

presentation skills

referencing

working in groups

revision, memory and exam techniques

Extra support

To help you juggle this course alongside your work and home life, you'll get extra support from:

a Workplace Partner chosen by you – someone at work who can offer advice, guidance, and moral support

an Academic Tutor specialising in your area of study

a Learning Manager who oversees your programme

Teaching​

How you're taught will depend on which units you take and the work-based learning projects you do.

Most of the course is delivered via our interactive virtual learning environment. With access to all the study material you’ll need, discussion forums and the chance to connect with peers and lecturers via chat sessions, you’ll have plenty of academic support and heaps of resources.

Depending on the units you study and your location, you may also be able to study on campus, experiencing face-to-face teaching methods.

How you'll spend your time

Each academic year is divided into 2 teaching blocks and 2 assessment periods:

September to December – teaching block 1

January – assessment period 1

January to May – teaching block 2 (includes Easter break)

May to June – assessment period 2

Most teaching takes place during the day, on Thursdays, Fridays and very occasionally on Saturdays. You may occasionally need to go to University and course events in the evenings and at weekends.

How you're assessed​

The way you're assessed will depend on which units you take and the work-based learning projects you do.

Apply

Contact us if you want to do this course. Before you apply, we'll work with you to develop a programme of study that's tailored to your aspirations and work objectives. Read our information about the application process to find out more.

Not quite ready to apply? Come to an Open Day to explore our course facilities and tour the campus.